Baby's Gaze May Predict Later Hyperactivity

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A newborn's gaze may hold clues to how he or she will behave a
few years later, new research suggests.

In the study, researchers looked at 80 newborns, who were just 1
day to 4 days old, and measured how long the babies focused their
gazes on images that were being shown to them. Then, when the
children were 3 to 10 years old, their parents filled out
questionnaires about the kids'
temperament and behavior.

The researchers found that newborns who looked at each image for
less time tended to be more hyperactive and impulsive later in
childhood than the newborns who looked at the images longer.

"We were … struck that differences between newborns in their
visual attention predicted how the children would behave when
they were older," said study author Angelica Ronald, an associate
professor at Birkbeck, University of London.

The investigators said they don't know what mechanism might link
babies' visual attention with their behavior in childhood, but
the scientists would like to explore this question next.

The researchers also said they were surprised to find such big
differences among the babies in terms of how long they looked at
the images, Ronald said. "This shows us that newborns are not
'blank slates,' but already show clear differences between one
another," she said. [ 10
Scientific Tips for Raising Happy Kids ]

These differences between babies so young are likely due to
genetics or the environment the children experienced within the
womb, she said.

"For anyone interested in the role of nature and nurture, it
shows that children's ability to attend to things visually is not
all due to parenting or environmental effects after birth,"
Ronald told Live Science.

Researchers have known that conditions that cause people to have
a difficult time paying attention, such as
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are partly
heritable, she said. So it's reasonable that there would be
differences among individuals in the ability to pay attention at
any age, she said. However, more research is needed in this area,
she said.

And even if people's attention styles do depend on genetic
factors, it's still possible that there are ways for people to
learn to
increase their attention spans, Ronald said.

Moreover, the researchers stressed that one type of attention is
not universally better than another. Although having a very short
attention span may impede a person's learning, "a degree of
variation between people is what makes us thrive at different
things," Ronald said.

"It may be why one person succeeds as a racing car driver, where
rapid visual attention changes are needed, and another person
excels at something like fine art, where extended concentration
on visual stimuli brings most benefit," she said.

The new study was published today (June 26) in the journal
Scientific Reports.